


Down by the Broken Tree House

by colazitron



Series: Fic Advent 2013 [23]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 20:02:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1098054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colazitron/pseuds/colazitron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis' day keeps swinging between shit and amazing but being caught on a bloody <i>kiss cam</i> with a virtual stranger just about takes the cake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Down by the Broken Tree House

In hindsight, Louis almost feels like he should've known better. The day had started like complete and utter _shit_. He slept through his alarm, spilled the tea he made from his very last tea bag before he'd taken the first sip and managed to somehow get a huge ketchup stain on the leg of his grey work trousers.

 

So when he's bored on his lunch break and calls Radio One and actually manages to win an exclusive set of tickets to his favourite team playing that very same evening, he first thinks it's the universe paying him back for a truly shitty morning.

 

It's obviously too much of a good thing though, since Niall cancels on him last minute. Last minute as in Louis is literally already outside the stadium when he gets the call. He can't even sell the extra ticket, since all he has is an email from Radio One and a QR code for two on his phone. So he sighs and turns to get in the queue by himself. There's an already obnoxiously drunk group of younger boys behind him and a veritable giant with a _mountain_ of hair in front of him so he plugs in his headphones, and drowns out the world. It's only when the giant in front of him takes especially long with his ticket and gesticulates wildly that Louis rejoins reality.

 

"But I paid for this," he says and his voice surprises Louis a bit, though he's not sure why he should even have had expectations for a stranger's voice in the first place. "I got a verification email and everything, I have it _here_."

 

"I'm sorry, sir, but this ticket is still a fake. I can't let you in. Someone else will be sitting in this seat."

 

Louis makes a split second decision.

 

"I have a second ticket," he says. "You can have it."

 

The man whirls around and stares at him like he's the sun after a long, dark winter night. Louis tries not to squirm or preen too much.

 

"I'm gonna need to see your tickets first, sir," the guard says, clearly sceptical. Louis pulls up his QR code and hands his phone over. It checks out clearly - though Louis won't pretend he's not worried for a second - and the guy fake-smiles at them.

 

"Have a good game, boys."

 

"Did you honestly just have that lying around? It took me ages to save up enough to afford this," giant says once they're inside.

 

"Er, I won them on Radio One this morning and my friend just cancelled on me," he says and turns to get a proper look at the giant. Oh. _Oh_ , but he's _pretty_.

 

The giant laughs.

 

"That's pretty lucky."

 

Louis wouldn't mind getting a bit more lucky tonight.

 

"I guess it is," he says and then swiftly turns away to study the signs pointing to various areas of the stadium. "Come on, we're this way."

 

The giant follows him easily and it's only when they're all the way up the stairs to climb into their seats that he addresses Louis again.

 

"I'm Harry, by the way."

 

"Louis," Louis says and graciously accepts when Harry offers to get him a beer. They idly chat away the time till kick-off and Louis is delighted to find out that Harry actually knows his stuff. Seems his evening is actually looking up again. He gets to enjoy his favourite team playing his favourite sport with a fit lad the universe seems to just have popped into his lap (almost literally, since Harry is apparently a frail woodland creature prone to tripping over his own feet when he gets excited).

 

Which is when the kiss cam gets them.

 

Honestly. A _kiss cam_. Harry had laughed and clapped delightedly when the tell tale cheesy music had started up, but Louis is still internally fuming. Kiss cams are horrible. They're cheesy and ridiculous and so bloody _American_. He only looks up when the people in his immediate vicinity begin cheering (and jeering, in some cases) to catch sight of Harry and his surprised faces on the big screen. Louis has absolutely no fucking clue what this is supposed to be, whether it's a mistake or someone thinking now's the time to use two unsuspecting members of the audience to make a point about homophobia in football, but either way it's _shit._

 

He half expects Harry to punch him in the face or at least scoot away, laughing, but also making it clear that he's _not that way_ , but instead his face sets in what looks like determination as he turns to Louis.

 

"You okay with this?" he asks, so quietly that Louis thinks he shouldn't be able to hear it. At this point, Louis's too tired and too high-strung to figure out if life is trying to shove him down further or lift him up again with this and just nods a bit. Harry's hands are massive as they cover Louis' ears and cradle his head. His lips are chapped but soft. The cheers are louder than the boos and Louis feels a bit like he's flying.

 

The feeling lingers all the way through the rest of the game, the walk home when Harry holds his hand, right up until he remembers that he forgot to buy tea again when he stumbles into the kitchen the next morning. Well, he supposes two mornings without tea are an alright trade-off if he gets more nights with Harry in return.

 

**The End**


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